Stephanie choked. “Me? What are you talking about?”
“Come on. You’re like the most famous person in our class. You have your own YouTube show.”
“It’s a Vlog.”
“Everyone follows you. They all listen to you. If you tell everyone to download my app, it will become the next big thing.”
Jade obviously had way too much confidence in Stephanie. She tried not to shut her down too fast. “My show isn’t really about dating apps…”
“No. But you could mention it, like an endorsement. People would go nuts for it.”
“What are you charging?”
“It’s free. That’s the beauty. Everyone can log in and fill out the form so we have a database. Then, after we gain popularity, I can monetize it. Sell ads or something. I want to keep it free for end users.”
Stephanie chewed her bottom lip. “Will it be that popular, though, if it’s just for our school?”
Jade made an excited squee noise. “That’s what’s so cool. It’s expandable. I can make an app for every school. But I want to try it out with Rockford High first. Work out all the bugs. You can be my very first customer.”
Stephanie inwardly groaned. She didn’t want to download a dating app. She didn’t want to date at all. She was on a man-diet. Ever since Kyle destroyed her heart, she was not interested in love. “Do I have to? You know how I feel about men right now.”
“You just hate guys because you haven’t found your perfect match yet. Let me do that for you.”
“You mean let your app do that.”
“Same thing. I wrote the app. Just download it and take the test. See what it’s like. You might find your true love.”
Stephanie closed her eyes. “Maybe.”
“You know you’ll do this for me. Because you love me.” Jade laughed.
“Of course, I love you. Because you’ll save me if I’m stuck on a horrible date. Right?” She opened her laptop and checked the comments on her Vlog. She usually got a few after one of her shows.
“You know it.” Jade was always there for her. She knew she meant it.
Stephanie stared at her screen and almost dropped her phone. “Holy crap.” The words slipped out without her meaning to say them.
“What is it?”
Her chest constricted as she looked at the photo in her inbox. It couldn’t be real. Could it? It was a photo of Brandon Travers. He held a piece of paper that said, ‘Believe it’s me, Stephanie.’ She swallowed, her fingers shaking. “Dang, that looks real,” she said under her breath.
“What looks real? Steph. Talk to me.”
“Sorry. I got a message from this guy that’s been leaving messages on my Vlog. His username is Brandon Travers, and he just sent me a photo that looks amazingly like Brandon Travers.”
“There’s a million photos of Brandon Travers on the internet.”
“I know. But he’s holding a paper that has my name on it. It’s kind of creepy how real it looks.”
“It’s Photoshopped.”
She was right. Of course, she was. “Yeah, I know.” She typed a quick message back to him.
You’re good with Photoshop.
A message came back right away.
Check my Twitter account.
“What are you doing?” Jade asked.
“I don’t know. He says to check his Twitter account.”
“Brandon Travers? Let me go look.” Noises came through as Jade fiddled with her phone. Then she heard Jade scream.
“What? What’s on his Twitter?”
Jade came back on. “It’s him, Steph. You’ve been chatting with the real Brandon.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he just told his fifty-five million followers to go check out your Vlog.”
Stephanie stopped breathing. She clicked over to her Vlog, her pulse racing. Three thousand and fifty followers. She’d gained fifty followers in a matter of seconds. She clicked to refresh the screen. Four thousand twenty-six. She swallowed. Hard.
“Gotta go,” she said into her phone and set it down. She wasn’t even sure if she pressed the red hang-up button. She was numb.
It really was Brandon Travers talking to her.
Crap. She’d been telling him off for the past week.
Continue on to read Stephanie and Brandon’s story, Don’t Trash the Heartthrob.
Don’t Trash the Heartthrob
Chapter 1
Stephanie swallowed, stared at her laptop screen, then swallowed again. How could this actually be happening? How could the hot movie star, Brandon Travers, really be talking to her on social media? And how could he have told all of Twitter to follow her Vlog?
She was up to fifty thousand followers now. Fifty-freakin’-thousand. And it was still growing. Her heart pounded as she curled a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. Her sister was always saying how jealous she was that Stephanie got the tall, blonde genes, and she got stuck with the leftovers.
A private message popped up on her screen. It was from Brandon.
Believe me now?
Her pulse raced and her fingers shook as she typed in a response.
Uh…yeah. I guess you proved it.
An answer appeared.
So, you ready to apologize to me now?
Wait, what? Apologize to him? That shook her out of her daze, and she frowned.
Why should I apologize to you?
Because you totally trashed me on your Vlog. You should issue a public statement saying you take it back.
Hold up. What in the heck was going on? Brandon Travers cared what some two-bit Vlogger had to say on the internet? How much sense did that make? And no way was she going to take it back. She only spoke the truth on her Vlog. She scooted her office chair closer to her desk. She shared her bedroom with her sister, Amanda, and there wasn’t a ton of space, but she needed a desk to do her Vlog, so she’d crammed it in at the foot of her bed.
But I don’t take it back. I meant every word.
Ouch, girl. You wound me.
Why? Because I didn’t bow down and worship you? Get over yourself.
Amanda came into the room and Stephanie whirled around like she’d been caught buying illegal firearms or something. Amanda gave her a funny look. “What are you doing?”
“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”
Amanda crossed the duct tape line Stephanie had put down separating their room space and squinted at the screen. “Who are you talking to?”
She kind of wanted to reprimand her sister for crossing the line, but she held her tongue. “Brandon Travers.”
Amanda laughed. “That faker? You still talking to him?”
“Funny thing. Turns out, it really is him.” Stephanie felt foolish saying that, and even still could hardly believe it was a movie star talking to her.
Amanda whacked her shoulder. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope. He told his Twitter followers to check out my Vlog. And now I have…” She clicked over on the other screen. “Sixty thousand followers.”
“Why would he tell his followers that?” She wrinkled her nose. “You told everyone he stunk up The Paper Pirate. That his acting was lousy, and he relied way too much on his looks. You said that—”
“Stop!” Amanda was right. It made no sense. Maybe it wasn’t Brandon. Maybe this was all a big ruse to get her to believe it was. Maybe…
Amanda interrupted her thoughts. “Hey, he just messaged you.”
She checked the other screen.
Get over myself? I can’t believe you just told me that.
Amanda laughed so hard, she doubled over and clutched at her stomach. “You told Brandon Travers to get over himself?” She laughed again, louder this time.
“Oh, stop it.”
Another message popped up.
What’s your email? I want to send you something.
Amanda stopped laughing. “Oh, my gosh. He wants your email address? What is he going to send you?”
“I don’t kn
ow. I’m not giving it to him.” Stephanie slammed her laptop shut.
“Um, hello! Are you for real? Brandon Travers wants your email, and you’re not going to give it to him?” Amanda gaped at her sister.
“No. I’m not.” Stephanie wiped her hands on her jeans, realizing they were sweaty.
“The super-hot movie star wants to email you. And you’re not going to let him?”
Stephanie shook her head.
“Come on. I want to know what he’s going to send you.” Amanda tried to open the laptop, but Stephanie held it down.
“Stop! I don’t want him to have my email address.”
Amanda folded her arms across her chest. “Give him mine, then.”
“Yours?”
“Yes. I’ll talk to Brandon if you won’t.”
The hard set of Amanda’s jaw made Stephanie want to shove her out of her space. She didn’t want Amanda coming in and messing up anything. Why did she want to talk to him, anyway? He wasn’t talking to her. “No way. He messaged me, not you.”
“Then give him your email.”
Stephanie opened her laptop and sighed. “All right, bossypants.” She typed it in and hit send.
“Ha!” Amanda grinned. “That was easier than I thought it would be. You’re so easily manipulated.”
Stephanie felt foolish. “Shut up.”
Amanda leaned forward. “Well, what are you waiting for? Go check it.”
The doorbell rang and Stephanie waved at her sister. “You go get the door.”
She grunted but took a step toward the door. “Fine. But show me what he sent when I get back.”
Stephanie waited until Amanda was gone to turn back to her computer. She had to admit, she was curious. She clicked over to her email, but nothing new had come through.
One of Amanda’s hamsters hopped on the wheel and ran, making a squeaking noise. She watched it run, then stop and flip over. What a crazy animal.
A noise sounded from the hallway and Amanda emerged with Jade at her heels. “Oh, my gosh. You don’t get to hang up on me like that and then not answer my texts.” She was out of breath, like she’d run the five blocks between their houses, which she probably had.
“I’m sorry,” Stephanie said, picking up her phone to see there were indeed several texts from Jade. “I was just in shock.”
Jade leaned over her shoulder, her dark hair falling forward. “Show me. I want to see what he said to you. I want to see the picture he sent.”
Amanda frowned. “He sent a picture? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Stephanie opened her mouth to say something sassy but stopped herself. She didn’t want to fight with her sister. “This all just happened. Like, in the last few seconds.” She clicked on the screen to show them both the photo of Brandon holding the sign.
Jade screamed and jumped up and down. “That’s him. It’s totally him. I can’t believe it.”
“He’s just a person,” Stephanie said. Yeah, right. Even she didn’t believe that. He was a movie star. He was Hollywood’s golden boy right now. He was in everything. And he was talking. To. Her.
Her email made a pinging noise and her pulse dropped.
“That’s him.” Amanda waved her hand. “Check your email.”
When Stephanie changed tabs and they all saw a message from Brandon, Jade squealed. “OMG, girl. Open that right now.”
Stephanie clicked on it, and then her mouth went dry.
Brandon Travers had sent her a video. His face was on the screen, with that circle and triangle thing that meant, “Click on me, and I’ll play your video.” But she wasn’t sure she wanted to play it with Jade and Amanda watching. She’d been chatting back and forth with him and she had to admit, she wasn’t very nice to him. Okay, she’d been rude. But in her defense, she thought he was a creepy internet fake at the time.
“Click it!” Jade yelled.
Stephanie did as she was told. Brandon’s face came to life. He wore a backwards baseball cap and a gray T-shirt. He grinned at the camera, his one dimple going in. No wonder he was a movie star. His blond-hair-blue-eye thing was hot.
“Hey, thought I’d send you this just in case you had any doubts left. You are talking to the real Brandon Travers. And I have to say, you’re a spirited chick. I mean, dang, girl. You know how to hit me where it hurts.” He put his hand on his heart. “Why are you so mean?”
A sound came from behind him and he turned to look at something off the camera. “Yeah, I’m coming,” he said. Then he turned back around and grew sober. “Gotta go. But I want to know one thing. All your Vlogs talk about movies you’ve hated. Are there any movies you’ve liked? Message me back.”
The screen went black and the video stopped. Jade screamed again. “Brandon Travers wants to know what movies you like.” She fanned herself. “That is sooo cool.”
Amanda leaned forward. “When you talk to him again, see if he will donate to the Lily Foster foundation. We could use every penny he’s willing to give.”
Stephanie scoffed. “No way am I asking him that.”
“Why not?” Amanda asked. “Celebrities give to charities and foundations all the time. It’s a tax write-off.”
It didn’t matter if it was a tax write-off or not. There was no way she was going to ask Brandon for money. That was creepy and stalkerish and not at all what she was about. “When he emails you, you can ask him. Right now, I don’t even know if I’m going to answer him.”
She said it, but she didn’t mean it. Even as she was talking, she was thinking of movies that she’d talk to him about. But Stephanie kept that to herself.
“You are so going to email him back,” Jade said. “And if you happen to mention my app…”
“No!” Stephanie gaped at her best friend. “I’m not going to ask him to endorse your app. Geesh, people. He’s a person, not a money bank or a billboard.”
Amanda rolled her eyes and stormed out of the room. “Whatever,” she called as she left.
Jade had the decency to look guilty. She worried her lower lip. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
Stephanie softened. “I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”
Jade sat cross-legged on the carpet. “I’m just excited about my app.”
Guilt rolled through Stephanie. Jade had been talking about her dating app nonstop now for weeks. Stephanie should be more supportive even if she was on a dating diet. She picked up her phone. “What’s it called again?”
Jade brightened. “High School Sweethearts.”
Stephanie searched and found the app, then downloaded it to her phone. “I’ll fill out the questions. And maybe an endorsement will find its way onto my Vlog.”
Jade squealed and jumped up to give her a hug. “You’re the bestest. You know that?”
Stephanie laughed. “But you owe me big. You know I am not looking for a man.”
“I know. You purged all men from your life when Kyle—”
“Don’t say it!” Stephanie held up her hand. “I don’t want to think about what Kyle did.”
“I was just going to say he broke your heart.”
Stephanie nodded. That was certainly one way to say it. “Yes.”
“How many followers do you have now?”
She clicked on her computer. “Holy schmoly. I have a hundred thousand followers.”
“OMG. You’re going to be the next big thing. You’re going viral.” Jade did the floss dance and Stephanie just laughed at her.
“Yeah, right.”
Jade checked the clock on her phone. “I’d better go home. My mom wanted me to empty the dishwasher before bed, and she’ll freak if it’s not done.” She took a step back. “Text me if you hear anything else from you-know-who.”
“I will.”
Stephanie said good-bye to Jade and turned back to her computer screen. With all the excitement having settled down, she had a chance to think about what she was going to say to Brandon.
She was still stunned he even cared what she tho
ught. As she pulled up a blank email to answer him, butterflies filled her stomach.
She was emailing Brandon Travers. Holy. Cow.
Chapter 2
Brandon ducked his head and climbed into the back of the limo, his brain buzzing with all the words thrown at him. Change into a tux. Scarf down food, but not too much. Watch the diet. Get into the car. Don’t be late.
He was off to another boring event. Some celebrity red-carpet awards show of some kind. There was a time when they were exciting. Now he’d much rather crawl into bed and fall asleep. He wasn’t up for an award. He hadn’t been for quite some time.
He pulled out his phone and checked his email. Nothing yet from the Vlogger girl. Why was he so obsessed with her? She hated him. At least, she hated his acting. But for some reason, he couldn’t wait to hear from her again.
It didn’t make sense, but yet, not much in his life made sense anymore. He was a big-time movie star, and everyone wanted a piece of him. He had no say in anything, mostly because he was seventeen and everyone thought he was too young to make important decisions. His manager, publicist, tutor, and his agent planned every move. Even his assistant told him what to do, and when to do it.
Brandon looked out the window at the lights flashing by, his knee bouncing with nervous energy. When did things go so wrong? When did he start hating his life? He had everything a teen could ever want. Money. Fame. Fast cars. But he never got to enjoy them.
He sank into his seat. His phone made a noise and he checked. The email he’d been waiting for came through. He opened it.
I do like movies. I’m a tough critic, but I’ve given out compliments when they are earned. There are some movies that rise above the rest. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The Silence of the Lambs. Schindler’s List. The Great Gatsby. All tremendous films. Which of these is your favorite?
Brandon clicked reply.
Oh, some great pics. Silence of the Lambs and Schindler’s list tie for top. The Great Gatsby was all right. A little too much glitz for me. I’ve never seen One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Do you hate me now?
A text came in from his manager.
A Young Adult Romance Collection Page 46
